Dhoni has been my go-to man: Pant

Dhawan & Pant
Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant appeal successfully for the wicket of CSK opener Faf du Plessis. Photo: PTI/IPL

Mumbai: Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capitals to a resounding seven-wicket win over his role model M S Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in the IPL on Saturday, but the youngster paid tribute to the former India captain.

"It was very special walking out for the toss with MS (Dhoni). He has been my go-to man. I have learnt a lot from him," said Pant during the presentation ceremony after the match.

Pant, who replaced the injured Shreyas Iyer as captain ahead of this season, said that he was under pressure at one point in time.

"In the middle phase, I was under some pressure. But Avesh and Tom (Curran) did well in the middle to restrict them to 188. It always feels good when you get the win in the end. We were thinking as to what we will do without (Anrich) Nortje and (Kagiso) Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have," added Pant after the match.

The 23-year-old Delhi Ranji player praised openers Prithvi Shawn and Shikhar Dhwan.

"Prithvi (Shaw) and Shikhar (Dhawan) did well for us in the powerplay. They kept it simple and played some good cricketing shots."

Shaw and Dhawan added 138 runs for the opening wicket in 13.3 overs.

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